Pfc. Monica K. Smith
3rd Combat Aviation Brigade
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – The unmanned aerial system company maintains 16 planes, called Shadow. These $600,000 aircraft fly thousands of feet above the ground taking detailed photos of activities and terrain below.
Maintaining the aircraft ensures the ground troops have another set of watchful eyes scouting for them. In order to perform maintenance on the Shadow, members of the UAS Company attached to 1st Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, are creating a maintenance hangar to perform their work in a less harmful environment.
"Right now we're building a pad for a maintenance hangar," said Spc. Christie Ahhing, Company A, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division. "It's planned to be a (100 feet by 200 feet) clam shell hangar for storage and servicing of the planes."
Prior to having the maintenance hangar, Soldiers worked on the aircraft where room was available, usually in the two small tents that house the aircraft or outside.
"The new hangar will give us a lot more room and it will be much more convenient," Ahhing said. "With the two small tents moving the birds in and out is kind of a hassle. To get to the bird in the very back you have to move all the other aircraft out of the way."
After a certain amount of hours an aircraft flies, it must be serviced. For the UAS, there are 10 different services to perform not including fueling, de-fueling and performing a preventative maintenance check and service on the aircraft.
"There's a constant stream of aircraft coming in and aircraft being worked on, which is good, it keeps us busy," Ahhing said.
Those services, in addition to preflight and post-flight checks, ensure the calibrations are correct. This can cause a backup as other aircraft need to be moved out of the tents.
"There is not enough room for the aircraft in our current status," said Sgt. Matthew Phelan, Company A, 2-3 Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. "More space equals a less chance for an accident and it protects the birds from the elements such as in case of a sand storm."
The new maintenance hangar should be done in 25 to 30 days, said Phelan and it will house all the aircraft in addition to all the equipment used to maintain the aircraft, minus the trucks to fuel and de-fuel.
"Before we were using those two small tents," Phelan said. "We are looking forward to a more space and a hardened structure."
| Date Taken: |
02.16.2008 |
| Date Posted: |
02.16.2008 13:53 |
| Story ID: |
16426 |
| Location: |
BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: |
480 |
| Downloads: |
413 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
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